Large-sized Panel Shipments Reached 188 Million Units in 2Q12

According to WitsView, the panel research division of TrendForce, large-sized panel shipments in 2Q12 amounted to 188 million units with QoQ and YoY increase of 10.2% and 4.5% respectively.

In terms of application, the demand for TV panel in China market was spurred by the inventory preparation for May 1st Labor Day and the new energy-saving subsidy program. Meanwhile, international brands’ procurement momentum of TV panel was more robust compared to 2Q11 due to the new-model releases and inventory replenishment, boosting a 7.3% QoQ increase and a 5.1% YoY increase for 2Q12’s overall LCD TV panel shipments.

As for Monitor panel, most of the downstream vendors held conservative attitude towards the market outlook for 2H12 and began to reduce their less profitable products despite the fact that their monitor inventories were still at healthy levels. As a result, the overall monitor panel shipments – coupled with Korean panel makers’ decrease in their monitor panel supply – declined by 3.6% QoQ and 13.1% YoY.

Regarding regular notebook (NB) panel, the shipments grew by 8.6% QoQ and 7.1% YoY in 2Q12, prompted by the introduction of Intel’s IvyBridge as well as Apple’s high-resolution embedded Macbook Pro products. The shipments of Netbook panel below 12.1” increased by 28.6% QoQ and declined by 9.6% YoY as tablet products have been taking over its market share. With respect to tablet PC panel shipments, as the demand for the New iPad panel persisted, coupled with new-model launches from non-Apple campaign such Asus and Acer, the shipments soared by 46.3% QoQ and 50.6% YoY.

Looking ahead to the market outlook in 2H12, as the European debt crisis continues to affect the U.S. and European market, more time is needed to digest the inventory piled up in the retail channels during 1H12, which is projected to influence panel makers’ shipment performance in 3Q12.

WitsView stays cautious but optimistic about market outlook in 3Q12 and estimates that the large-sized panel shipments in 3Q12 will grow by 3~5% QoQ. Benefiting from the strong shipment momentum of iPad Mini, Nexus 7, Kindle Fire 2, and Surface and so on, tablet PC panel shipments are projected to show a double-digit growth. Netbook panel shipments are expected to decline by 7~9%, while the shipments of the remaining application categories are estimated to stay steady or increase by 2~4% QoQ in 3Q12.